Uzu Displaced
by Macdutton
Summary: Uzushiogakure was destroyed, Uzu no Kuni damaged beyond recognition. Its inhabitants though, survived. (This story has been reborn and rewritten. Such are the whims of a fickle writer.)
1. Exodus

**Disclaimer: Macdutton does not own Naruto.**

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**Uzu Tower**

"Sir! They've reached the island!"

"Ah fuck, this soon? How're the ambushes coming? Heard anything from the Kazama setting up the bombs for our guests?"

"Yes sir, Arashito just said to clear the first two arms within 5 minutes."

"Bastard! He set the fireworks for a timer?"

"I'd guess so sir."

Uzumaki Kensuke sighed exasperatedly. "Biggest fucking liability I've ever experienced. Anyway, clear the arms and set some more traps inside them, wherever you think enemies are likely to come through While you're at it, get Arashito in here. And get some Uzuki cells to go stab some of them in the backs."

A few messengers ran left to relay the orders.

"Yes sir, we've also identified some Kusa-nin mixed in with the troops from Suna as well as Ishi troops accompanying the host from Iwa. There are also contingents from Kumo and Kiri. Information says the Tsuchikage, Mizukage and Kazekage are all here. Luckily the Raikage hasn't been spotted yet, but that still leaves at least 3 kage level nin on our doorstep…"

"We can handle those, calm down. Any word on Konoha?"

"No, we've dispatched another messenger, but no reply."

"Damn. Guess we're fucked then," came the fatalistic reply. "Pull all non-essential people out. Use the tunnels. Lace them with explosive arrays and all the fuel we have."

"Sir? We're abandoning the village?" The messenger questioned, shocked.

"Yep. No way we can hold it without massive losses." The Uzumaki leader looked out over his village, watching the fires on the outskirts. "We're leaving, but we're giving them a present before we do." He turned around grinning as a rushing sound could be heard.

"Hey Arashito, glad you're here. You almost missed the good bit."

"Oh? And just what would that be?" Came the suspicious reply.

"You get to play with the big toys today."

"WHAT?! You're serious? I GET THE BIG TOYS!" The fiery haired lunatic was dancing around the room laughing like the madman he was. "Big toys, big toys, big, explosive, beautiful, fucking toys!"

Both Kensuke and the messenger sweatdropped at the orange haired man's antics. "You're sure this was a good idea sir?"

"Not in the slightest. But good idea or not, it's going to be fucking awesome." The Uzumaki stated with an expression of mixed excitement and trepidation. "OI! Arashito! Get the fuck on with it! Lace the whole place and give us 20 minutes to withdraw, then pull out. You need to survive and keep your clan from blowing up. And blowing other things up. Again. Fuck, remind me why we put up with you guys?" Kensuke became almost despondent while thinking about the messes his friend's clan created.

"Because we're fucking awesome, that's why."

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it. Go do your thing."

Arashito grinned, "Right away _sir_." He shunshined away.

Kensuke sat down and massaged his temples and sighed. "I need to break something." The messenger edged away. "Come on kid, we're going to pick out some cells to cause some trouble for our guests."

**Uzushiogakure Streets**

A yell rang out from the top of the central tower.

"THE BIG TOYS ARE COMING OUT!"

For a second, everything stopped. Quickly, those who understood began to disengage and flee, terror in their eyes. This sight gave all the attacking troops pause, as these people were known for being almost insanely brave, taking on the most absurd odds just for thrills.

Small numbers of Uzu-nin stayed to slow the invading ninja, allowing the others time to escape the soon to be hellhole. They used all of their prowess to control the enemy advance, eventually stopping and holding them just before the centre of the village.

The core of this defensive line was a tall, broad, red haired man, carrying a sword as long as he was tall. He was the epitome of the Uzumaki, with long, dark red hair, tipped with white and blue eyes, like pools of the coldest water. Attack after attack was thrown at him, high ranked ninjutsu, summons, barrages of weapons. He stood before it all, like a rock that bears the rage of the sea.

Behind him and to either side, two others stood such, holding back the tide. They were a man and a woman, both with the same hair and eyes.

"Brother, we're not going to be able to hold much longer," came a strained grumble from the woman to his left as she held off an Iwa-nin using a stone sword. Quickly withdrawing and disembowelling him and the ninja who was trying to flank her while she was occupied, she continued, "There are too many of them."

"Chill hun, we've only got another two minutes or so 'til the fireworks start." Her counterpart declared, lazily dispatching the Kiri-nin running at him, throwing a stream of fire at him from a seal on his wrist. "Shit, that's the last of the alchemical fire." He lamented.

The large man in the centre merely growled. "If we've only got two minutes left then we need to pay attention for another two minutes."

As he said this, a break in the onslaught opened up and 3 figures walked forward.

"Oh, you've grown some balls have you?" The redhead shouted, baiting three of the most powerful men in the ninja world.

"We saw no reason to get involved. Our ninja can crush your pathetic village with ease." Sneered the Tsuchikage.

"Oh really, so why have you come out now? Got bored? Or did you feel safer only facing a handful of us?" The redheaded swordsman taunted.

"It makes no difference, you will all die anyway." Stated the Mizukage coldly.

"Yep. We're gonna die. But you're coming with us." The eyes of the swordsmen now looked positively demonic. In fact, they looked red. And slit-pupiled…

"Ah, one of the famous Jinchuuriki of Uzu. Believe you can stop us, demon?" The Tsuchikage needled.

"Yes. I think you're all going to die."

"Arrogant little shit!" The Kazekage screamed at him. "We're going to butcher all of you and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it!"

"So _I'm_ arrogant." The swordsman murmured to himself. "Okay guys distract them for a minute, keep them where they are." He instructed his younger siblings.

They saluted mockingly. "Yes sir mister boss man." His little sister quipped.

"Wiseass."

He began gathering fire nature chakra and channelling it into his core, compressing it, forcing it to begin spiralling chaotically while his siblings flew at the gathered kages, swords ablaze with their own fire chakra.

The swordsman continued gathering chakra, smoothing the spiral until it formed an almost disc like shape inside him. About 30 seconds later, he brought his hands to either side of his solar plexus, either side of the mass of chakra. Forcing it to spin faster and faster, he sought to maintain control.

At the point where he began to lose control of the forces inside him, he threw his hands forward, holding the mass of chakra between them and firing it towards the five combatants in front of him and whispering the words, "Uzuton: Honoo no Nejire (Spiral Release: Twist of Fire).

The compressed spiral of fire exploded forwards, expanding to form a cyclone of blazing heat, turning the ground around it into glass. As it was released, the last thing he saw was his sister with her blade locked against the Tsuchikage's throat turning to look at him. And she smiled. She smiled, knowing her brother had just released the technique that would kill her.

The look broke him and he couldn't bear to look to his younger brother and see the same look on his face.

The cyclonic fire hit the group and continued on for almost a mile, killing dozens of ninja caught in its path.

Looking on, he saw three figures struggling to rise. The Tsuchikage had exhausted almost his whole chakra reserve in holding a wall against the attack, similarly with the Mizukage who had drawn water from the air to try to cool the wall so it did not simply shatter. The Kazekage had attempted to create a buffer of air in front of the wall as an added protection but had been worn out within seconds.

The three stood staring at the perpetrator of such a horrifying display of power. He simply shrugged, the charred remains of his shirt falling away, his hair singed and burns marring his arms and chest.

"And that's not even the most powerful Uzuton technique."

The gathered kages blanched upon hearing this. There was something _more_ powerful?

"Hmm. That's gotta be twenty minutes now right? It's been nice knowing you fellas." At that moment they heard a roaring sound. "Looks like it's time." He stood with his arms out to the sides, his head back, bathing in the suddenly renewed heat.

**Outside Uzushiogakure**

"Arashito, give me some wind."

The orange haired man obeyed and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, a sad expression marring his normally manic features. "All that work, and we're just going to destroy it. Such a pity."

"What, you're sad about destroying something? Has yomi actually frozen over?"

"I had a home. It was warm and dry. Of course I'm sad it's about to be gone." His grin returned. "It's going to be fucking awesome to watch it though."

Kensuke simply rolled his eyes, focusing on mixing the wind chakra his friend was supplying with his own fire natured chakra. Slowly, he began to spin it to maintain its stability and make a start on the true basis of the technique.

"This will only be the third time this has ever been used," He mused quietly. "Think it'll be as good as last time?"

"Nah. Better. Because this time we're going to overload it."

The ninja who heard this all started to shake in fear. When a Kazama said 'overpower', things usually got messy. Very messy.

"Another minute and I'll be at my limit. Someone get ready to throw me up." Kensuke ordered, causing two of his subordinates to step forward.

"Me too. We're going up together so I can help control the extra chakra until it gets released." Another two people stepped up to prepare.

"Alright, that's it. Throw us."

They were rocketed upwards, reaching almost to the clouds. On the way up, Arashito moved his hands to either side of his liege's chest, pumping all the chakra he could into him.

Kensuke started to scream from the pain of holding in so much power and as they reached the zenith of their flight, he uttered the fateful words. The words that would destroy so much.

"UZUTON: JIGOKU NO ARASHI!"

He threw his arms forward, propelling the ball of unholy death towards his beloved village.

The roaring sound as it expanded to almost twenty metres wide was deafening. It began forming the signature cyclone shape of all Uzuton jutsu and barrelled towards its target.

As they began to fall, the two friends watched in awe as the maelstrom of superheated fiery death sped forwards and down, down into the heart of the village.

Time seemed to slow for all who witnessed the attack, although it could hardly be referred to as such. This was no attack. Attacks could be blocked, dodged, negated. This was… Unstoppable. A force of nature. An act of the gods themselves.

The impact was terrifying as it engulfed almost the entire village, turning the outskirts to glass with the sheer heat, vaporising everything it touched. As it did, secondary explosions and fires went off, stockpiles of fuel and explosives meant to destroy the village utterly, rendering everything useless. Nothing would survive. No libraries, scrolls, weapons, tools. Nothing.

As the originators of the storm landed, they couldn't stand, exhausted from the chakra expenditure and had to be supported as they watched their village burn.

"I guess that's the end then." Arashito whispered, almost brokenly.

"Not quite. The end of this. The beginning of something new." His lifelong friend consoled him.

Kensuke looked away from the fires that would spread, destroying huge amounts of land as it burned wild, unstoppable.

He spoke to his messengers, "How many did we evacuate?"

"Sir, there are around 5 thousand by our estimates, with equal numbers from Uzumaki, Uzuki and Namikaze. Less survived from Kazama. Many refused to leave their work once finished.

"Typical. Stubborn bastards." Another deep sigh. "Alright people. We're moving out. We'll be getting to the mainland and heading north."

"North? To where, sir?"

"To Konoha." Kensuke replied simply.

"A moment." Came a cold voice. Arashito's voice.

"Good men and women died here today. Some stayed, despite knowing they would be killed by the Maelstrom. We will pay respect."

Nobody dared disobey, all of them falling to their knees and bowing to the floor for a few moments. Arashito and Kensuke continued standing, holding themselves up through sheer will. A look passed between them, each feeling the weight of their actions, the blood upon their hands.

Soon, all were on their feet again, moving silently away from their former home, still a pit of flames. All found themselves throwing back glances, already missing the home they had lost.

**2 Months Later, Konoha**

The gate guards were bored. It was the usual noon shift and nothing interesting had happened today. Again. Same as yesterday. Tomorrow would likely be a rerun of today.

"We really need to get a different assignment," one of them groused.

"Shut it, at least we don't get much trouble," the second reprimanded his partner.

As the words left his mouth, they noticed a change. A large group seemed to be approaching. Scratch that, a huge group. They both tensed upon seeing the way these approaching people moved. They moved like warriors. A large group of people who could fight had to be bad.

_"What if it's an invasion?"_ The second guard thought.

_"This is going to be so troublesome."_ Thought the first.

Eventually, the approaching column reached the gate. The two guards barred the way, an ANBU unit behind them.

"STOP!" The first gate guard yelled. "Declare yourselves and your intentions."

The large red haired man leading the column laughed. "We're Uzu. As to our intentions, we're here about that asylum Hashi-chan guaranteed any citizen of Uzu who wished it."

"Hashi-chan?" The guards and ANBU all sputtered at this way of referring to the first Hokage. "Wait, why are there so many of you?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Kensuke grinned. "We all need it. Uzu is moving into Konoha."

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**A/N: As of late July, I've begun a rewrite. Mostly small changes, but you may want to reread, just to keep an understanding.**

**EDIT – 29/07: Expect much updating and rewriting in the next couple of months.**


	2. Arrival

**Disclaimer: Macdutton does not own Naruto.**

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**Konoha Gates**

"Uzu is moving to Konoha."

The guards and ANBU lost what little colour they'd had, all of them having been unlucky enough to experience the terror that was Uzu-nin.

"U-u-uzu is… m-m-moving in? H-here? To Konoha?"

"Something like that, yeah. Anyway, one of you kiddies be kind enough to go get Hashi-chan for me. He's the one who authorised it in the first place."

The ANBU shared a look before two of them leapt towards the HokageTower to relay the news to Shodaime-sama. One of the remaining ANBU, a young woman with purple hair was struggling to hold a giggle at the nickname for the most powerful ninja in the village.

Kensuke glanced at her just then. "Oi, that you Rina-chan?"

She just grinned at him behind her fox mask. "You know I'm not allowed to answer that when I'm on duty."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You going to be joining us once we move in?" He said, waving away her half hearted denial.

"You seem awfully confident about that." The voice was new, deep and powerful.

"Hashi-chan!" Was Kensuke's only reply, causing a vein to pop out next to the Shodaime's eye.

"How. Many. Times. Have. I. Told. You. Not to call me THAT!" He yelled, looking deranged.

All the Uzu-nin who could see just started laughing, some even falling over and holding their sides to manage their mirth, Kensuke and Arashito being among them.

"So I'm told you want to take the asylum I offered. May I ask why so many of you do? It looks like half of Uzu is on my doorstep." The Hokage tried to bring the conversation back under control.

Instantly, the Uzu leader was straight faced and serious, "Because, my friend, Uzushiogakure no Sato is gone. Destroyed. We have nowhere else to go."

The Shodaime was shocked. '_Uzu destroyed? How? Were they attacked? Was it a natural disaster?' _For a second he mused that Uzu-nin were a natural disaster.

"How? No village is powerful enough to really damage another now, not after the war."

"Not one village, but six." Senju Hashirama, one of the most powerful men in the world, went white while the Uzumaki continued, "Iwa and Ishi came, Suna brought troops from Kusa as well as Kiri and Kumo joining in. They didn't attack each other either, so I'd guess it was an alliance."

"How…" The Shodaime croaked in question, terrified by the ramifications of this news.

"Lured them in, held them up in the centre then blew the place to hell. Took most of them out including, I think, the Mizukage, Tsuchikage and Kazekage."

"You killed three kages? That's impossible."

"Uzuton: Jigoku no Arashi. No way to escape."

Hashirama flinched at the name, before sighing in resignation. "I guess I have to come good then." He raised his voice, "All Uzu citizens are hereby granted asylum within Konoha, and are to be treated as citizens of this village.

"You know the Uchiha are going to be up in arms right?" He questioned Kensuke quietly.

"Of course, stuck up superior bastards that they are, I'd expect nothing less. I just ask that we of Uzu are given the rights of a Great Clan."

"You mean to kill them if they attack?"

"Only the ones that _do_ attack. The rest are safe from reprisals, unless they attack like cowards."

Hashirama sighed again. This was going to be the biggest headache he'd ever known, "Alright. I'll fill out the paperwork. The status of Great Clan will also give you a seat on the council. Only one, mind. All citizens of Uzu will be considered a single clan. Organise the actual clans as you will. Since you'll also need somewhere to live, I'll designate the base of the bluffs as the 'Uzu Quarter', since I don't think 'Compound' would quite cover the size it's going to have to be. How many of you are there?"

"Thanks, and by our most recent count? About four thousand, roughly equal from each clan except Kazama. They number a little under eight hundred."

"And your military strength?"

"About 1 in 3 capable of active service. Including those who recently retired, as well as children aged 5 to 10 years, about 1 in 2, though most of the Kazama are combat ready."

The Shodaime thought over this information. An immediate increase in his military power of over a thousand troops could be very useful, especially given the destruction the Uzu clans were capable of causing. _And if the others of the Great Five were weakened…_

"Don't even think about it Hashirama." The cold statement and use of his full name snapped him out of his reverie.

"It was two months ago. By now, the survivors have rallied and redoubled their defences, they've got to fear a reprisal. Besides, my people are tired and we need to look at building our home for now." Kensuke grinned slyly. "But we can still send a few cells out to remind them why they shouldn't fuck with the Maelstrom." The two leaders shared a look of understanding.

"Get your clans set up in the area the ANBU show you to. Kitsune, if you would," the Hokage motioned the young woman with purple hair to guide the new citizens to their soon to be home. He continued, "Once they're set up, come to my office and we'll sort everything out. There will also need to be a council meeting."

"Righty-ho, Hashi-chan!"

Cue pulsing eye vein.

**Hokage Tower**

"Hey Tobi-chan!"

_'Another demeaning nickname for another powerful ninja. I love this shit.' _Kensuke thought fondly.

"So the ANBU tell me that most of Uzu is sitting on our doorstep. Please tell me this is a joke?" Tobirama begged the large redhead.

"Yep." Relief showed on Tobirama's face for an instant before Kensuke elaborated, "Now we're inside the village."

"Brother, you've doomed us all."

"Ah, chill, chill, we won't cause any more trouble than we did back home."

"THAT'S WHY I'M SCARED!"

Kensuke just laughed. "We'll try to stay contained in the land we're given, for the most part. At least for the foreseeable future we'll be doing a lot of building. Since it's just a mass of streams and trees, we'll need to work out foundations for buildings: towers, houses, forges. The works. We can pay for some materials, but my ninja will need missions to earn the rest."

"You've got it all planned out, haven't you?" The younger Senju brother asked.

"Nah, just working this out on the fly. Way more fun," Kensuke grinned.

"Alright, I'll gather the council within half an hour. Bring a representative from the other Uzu clans to the meeting room with you." The Uzumaki knew a dismissal when he heard one, so he left to check on what his people were up to, as well as gather his lieutenants.

**Land Set Aside for Uzu Quarter**

"This should be alright actually, plenty of space, wood, water… I could get to like this." Arashito said to himself as he wandered round. "Hmm. Better wait for Kenny-chan to arrive before we start calling dibs on areas though. He's probably already got an idea of how he wants us to lay out."

"Oi, Arashito! Get over here!"

"Speak of the devil." He meandered over to his leader and friend.

"Okay, get some people to start making actual plans of this," Kensuke handed him a scrap of paper with a rough drawing sketched out. Arashito sweatdropped.

"It looks like it was drawn by a five year old with a crayon."

WHAM!

"I'll have you know I'm 46."

"But you did use a crayon?" Arashito asked while rubbing one side of his head.

WHAM!

"Oww. Uncalled for."

"Shut up. Send some people to the trade district to start looking for supplies, delegate responsibilities and find Marisa and Mina. Bring them here, then we're going to meet the _council_," he instructed, his distaste obvious in relation to the last part.

"Ugh, politics. Do I have to be there?" Arashito whined.

WHAM!

The Uzumaki raised his fist threateningly again.

"Alright, alright, I'm going."

**Council Chambers, 20 Minutes Later**

"You're probably all wondering why you're here. I expect your spies have already informed you of our newest additions to the village?" His scathing question went unanswered by most, but the Aburame representative raised his hand silently.

"Aburame-san?" The Shodaime inquired.

"Hokage-sama, our allies from the gate informed us that the ninja from Uzu have been granted Great Clan status. My clan wishes to know your reasoning behind this action." The bug user stated his position without emotion, merely requesting clarification and an explanation of the Hokage's logic.

The Uchiha patriarch was less calm. "Yes, Hokage-_sama_, we would all like to know why there is a foreign army within our village." The inflection on the honorific was not missed by those gathered in the room.

"Because, Madara-_san_, our treaty with Uzu stated that any Uzu citizen needing asylum would be granted, and the opposite would be true for our citizens, as long as our villages stand. Uzushiogakure and a large part of Uzu no Kuni have been destroyed. The survivors required safe haven, and we honoured our agreement." The curt answer quietened the red-eyed man temporarily.

At this point, the doors boomed open, and in stepped 4 people. A tall, well muscled man, his skin a lattice of scars with long, dark red hair stood in the centre. He was bare chested, with hakama pants and archaic geta sandals. He was also carrying a colossal uchigatana across his back.

Behind and to his right were two women. One, a lithe golden-blonde was carrying many knives at her waist and on her thighs. She wore black pants that were taped to her legs below the knee and an orange and black jacket open just enough to show her impressive cleavage.

Next to her was a short woman with violet hair and jet black eyes. She wore what looked to be ANBU gear, except that most of it was constructed from armour mesh. Her hands were resting on two kodachi strapped to her lower back.

On the Uzumaki's left side was a wild looking man with fiery orange hair, shot through with black. He too was bare-chested and more heavily muscled than the taller redhead. His entire left arm and shoulder were tattooed with barbed stripes, giving him a wild, feral look. The final things to terrify those present were the furred paw with long claws where his left hand should be, and most of all, his left eye. It was blazing orange with deep black markings around it. Across his shoulders he carried a chain tipped with enormous, flanged metal weights.

"We late?"

The whole room sweatdropped.

"Nice of you to arrive Kensuke." This was the Hokage's, admittedly rather weak, attempt to regain the flow of the meeting.

"Yeah, anyway, Hashi-chan has said we can stay, assuming we swear loyalty or some shit. So, I swear Uzu will follow Senju Hashirama. Happy?"

The Senju brothers nodded and prepared to move onto the next matter but were interrupted.

"It's troublesome but I note you did not swear fealty to Konoha, nor to the position of Hokage. This seems like a rather major oversight." Nara Shikate lazily pointed out.

"Yeah, well spotted I guess. As long as Hashi-chan allows us to remain, we will follow him. When he stands down, we will decide whether we will follow the next Hokage and stay, or if we decide we cannot follow the Hokage, we shall leave."

The lazy deer herder sighed, "Troublesome."

"Does everyone accept this? Yes? Good. Onto the next matter then. The contingent from Uzu will be given the rights of a Great Clan, including land set aside for them to build a compound, as well as the right to police this area themselves. Any attacks upon them or their members will be treated as an attack on any Clan would," Here he looked at the scowling Uchiha and Hyuuga present. "Their children will attend the academy, their ninja will operate under the name of Konoha, but will be permitted to continue wearing their own hitai-ate."

Here the Hokage was forced to stop at the uproar raised by some in the room. The gist of it was that such a thing was unacceptable.

"QUIET!" Bellowed Tobirama, achieving the desired effect.

"As I was saying, they will wear Uzu hitai-ate. They will also be permitted to continue any and all traditions unhindered, when it applies to their own members. Their techniques will be subject to the Clan Hiden Jutsu Act. To remind those of you who have _forgotten_, this means the theft or copying of any jutsu unique to a clan may be punished by death. Understood?" He was again looking directly at Madara.

There was a noise of general assent. The Uchiha eventually bowed before the stare he was getting and acquiesced. Then he felt the heat of four gazes directed at him, two of which pinned him in place. The two red haired occupants of the room were staring with unmitigated hatred at him, cleanly focussing a considerable amount of killing intent and something… _evil_ on him.

"Unless there is another matter that must be discussed we will end this gathering." The Hokage attempted to break the tension.

Hyuuga Kotonoha stood, "What land will be given to our newest additions, Lord Hokage? I trust that no other clan lands will be affected?" The threat was obvious.

"The Uzu compound will be established on the Eastern edge of the bluffs in the North-East of the village, bordering the wall."

It was a clever position, guarded on one side by the village wall, far enough away from most clan lands that few would be affected. The only nearby lands within the walls were the Aburame and Hyuuga, both of whom were further South.

"Acceptable. We look forward to the aid this influx of new clans should provide." Was the Hyuuga's last statement.

"That it? Can we go now?" Kensuke asked the Senju siblings.

"Yes, go, but Kensuke. My wife will want you to come to dinner with us tonight."

Kensuke shuddered at the thought of his elder sister. Hashirama and Tobirama grinned at finally getting one over on the cocky samurai.

**That Night, Uzu Compound**

Arashito, Mina and Marisa sat around a fire drinking and fooling around. Eventually, they became quiet.

Arashito spoke up first, "What do you ladies reckon then?"

Knowing what he meant, they considered while sipping their drinks. Eventually, Namikaze Mina replied. "We're the same people we were before. Not much should really change. We will face hatred though. Especially when they find out about our traditions." She placed her hand on Arashito's shoulder as she said this.

Uzuki Marisa followed, "We will need to watch our backs. Probably for every second we spend in Konoha. They will hate us eventually. Few of them understand the power of sacrifice. Though we will face dangers, we will persevere. We always have done." They were sobered by these thoughts, each wondering what the future would hold.

"It's going to be an interesting few years," Arashito said quietly. They all continued to sip their drinks, before being drawn into conversation again.

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**A/N: Okay, a heads up for you. This won't be Naruto centric. The main character will be an OC. Things are still somewhat up in the air at this point. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this instalment and that you'll tell me what you liked, didn't like, how I could improve and such.**

**To make sure I don't just get flaming related to not following canon I'll say it now. It's fanfic. Canon can go fuck itself with a pitchfork. I make the rules now! (Cue insane laughter.)**

**Anyway, that's enough rambling.**

**EDIT – 29/07: Expect much updating and rewriting in the next couple of months.**


	3. The Beginning of the End

**Disclaimer: Standard deal, Macdutton does not own Naruto, Bleach or any IP that may be drawn on for this story.**

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**Uzu Tower, 5am**

Torahime woke up with a groan. Sitting up on her futon, she stretched like a cat, revelling in the sound of her popping joints, as well as the feeling of release. Looking out her window, she saw it was still an hour or so from dawn, so at least she hadn't overslept.

The protagonist of our story is not a morning person however, and she tends to react rather violently to people approaching her before she has had a shower and some tea.

As Torahime walked towards the shower in the flat, she heard the water already running and someone singing badly. Realising she'd been beaten into the shower again she started growling.

_'Damn that bitch! Why does she always have to get in the shower first? She takes forever!'_

Grumbling to herself, she made her way instead to the kitchen and began making tea for herself. Enjoying the first sip of the beautiful liquid, she relaxed from her bad mood. Today was an interesting day, after all.

_'Goddess, I hope it isn't as bad as last year…'_

Her musings were interrupted by a naked young woman with purple hair wandering into the room.

"Okay my little princess, shower's free," the sweet comment hid the pleasure Mitarishi Anko took in taking the piss out of her surrogate sister's given name.

"Bitch," mumbled Torahime.

"You love me really," Anko teased.

"So?"

"Ooh, aren't we sassy this morning."

"I hate you so much," came the petulant reply.

"Ah well, I'm sure I'll live," Anko happily demeaned the redhead.

Getting into the bathroom, Torahime looked at herself in the mirror for a few moments. For an eleven year old, she was damn good looking. She was quite tall, as well as having powerfully muscled legs and arms, with a solid abdomen and somewhat broad shoulders. Her hair fell to the bottom of her buttocks, spreading around her back like a waterfall of fire. Yes, she had a damned good body for an eleven year old.

The only things she didn't like about herself were her breasts, which were still completely undeveloped, something Anko teased over constantly; and the scars. Oh how she was ashamed of those scars. Four long claw marks, starting on her throat and travelling down her neck to the front of her left shoulder. Her fingers gently traced their path before dropping to her side.

She sighed. They were a part of her; there was nothing she could do about them, just like her markings. Extending out from her spine and crawling down the left side of her back were black, barbed stripes, covering a quarter of her back.

Stepping into the shower, she was hit by a wall of cold water. Anko had used all the hot water. Again. She hit her head against the wall, grumbling in irritation. After washing her body and hair, she stepped out and began drying off.

Looking in the mirror again, she considered her face. She'd slept badly again last night, and it showed. There were deep, dark bags under her tangerine eyes. The dark rings around her eyes were also getting worse, looking almost like eyeliner.

She went back to the kitchen, her hair wrapped in a towel and saw Anko, half dressed cooking some rice for breakfast.

"Would the princess like something to eat?" She mockingly asked the redhead.

Her reply was a feral growl, at which she dropped some of the teasing.

"Jeez, okay, no need to get so tetchy sis," Anko grumbled. "I'll share some rice if you'll make some more tea?"

"Seems fair," Torahime deadpanned.

As they went about their various tasks, the adoptive sisters were silent, each thinking about their day ahead. Eventually the younger girl broke the silence.

"So you're back on duty today? Are you ready?"

"I don't know. I hope so. Ibiki's taking me on as his apprentice, so at least I'll have a reasonable outlet from now on." The purple haired girl mused.

"Maybe he'll just accept you as you are. I've heard he's fair, judges people on the way they are when he meets them, not what he hears about them. Supposedly it's what makes him so good at his job," was the redhead's reply.

"We'll see," Anko muttered darkly.

Standing up, Torahime hugged her sister tightly. "Stop being so negative before you've even met the guy," she mumbled into the taller girl's ear.

They finished breakfast and parted, Anko heading out to her early morning appointment, Torahime heading back to her room to get dressed.

Dropping the towel from her hair and sitting in the middle of the small room, she brushed out her long, flaming hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail, feeling the deep widow's peak above her forehead and remembering the photos of her father.

Standing, she walked to the wardrobe, sliding it open and reaching in to collect a pair of black pants with long slits on the sides, revealing a lot of leg once she put them on, tightening the drawstrings to hold them on her hips. At her ankles, she gathered them and bound them with dark red bindings up to mid calf. Following this, she pulled on black combat boots, an unusual choice for Konoha. Over her chest, she pulled on a black vest. Unlike a normal vest, this did not cover her back at all, and had a deep V in the front, revealing a lot of chest.

She completed her image by wrapping dark red bindings around her waist to hide the join between her pants and vest. Finally, she strapped on her kunai and shuriken holsters, one on each leg.

Two long chains were fitted around her waist, underneath the topmost layers of red bindings.

She grinned at herself in the mirror. In a few years she would be a total knock-out dressed like this, and she was free enough that she could still fight. It was a kunoichi's ideal.

Quickly leaving the flat, she sprinted down the stairwells to the 3rd floor of the tower and jumped out of the hole in the wall at the end of the corridor, landing on the roof of a whorehouse. Jumping across the next few roofs, she saw the bars and other local establishments kicking out patrons into the early morning light so they could shut down until the middle of the day.

The KazamaTower was situated in the centre of the Akasen, the red light district of Konoha. More accurately, the Akasen grew up around the Tower, but nobody really remembers that anymore. In fact, the history of the KazamaTower and its inhabitants was known to very few outside of the Uzu clans and those old enough to remember.

Shaking her head to clear it, she focussed on not slipping as she barrelled across the rooftops of Konoha, heading South West towards the Academy.

Passing the HokageTower and Administration buildings she nodded at those ANBU that were visible guarding the area, receiving nods in return. The major exception was the ANBU Demolition Corps who waved and threw low yield explosive notes at her.

_"Crazy bastards. Although that _is_ why they're so fun…_

Finally making it to the Academy grounds, she shot into the building, the emptiness of the corridors giving her a bad feeling she knew all too well. Getting to the door of her classroom, she heard a voice asking where she was.

_"Shit. Late again. And on the first day. FUCKING HELL!"_

Sighing, she slid open the door and walked in. "I'm here sensei."

Looking up, she was surprised to see a young man looking at her with an annoyed expression. In her surprise, she blurted out the first thing that came into her head.

"Who the fuck are you?"

A vein popped in his cheek as he looked pissed off. "As I was just about to explain before you arrived, I'm your new sensei. Kagane-san asked to be reassigned to field work. I'd applied to become an Academy teacher this year so I've been put in charge of you lot as a trial. Any questions?"

"Yeah, if you're a fresh teacher, do you have any idea about how to teach?" This was Arisawa Tatsuki, the only non-clan student left in their class.

"I've received training, but I intend to work out my own style," Iruka stiffly replied.

"You sure you're up to this? You're kinda uptight, and you're pretty young for a teacher. What are you, 17, 18?" Sarutobi Hiruki was blunt as always.

Iruka ground his teeth. "I'm old enough and skilled enough to kick the ass of anyone in here." He relaxed a little, "Hopefully, I can pass on some of those skills in the time I have with you. Anyway, sit down Torahime."

Torahime, still stood by the door glared at him for a few seconds. She slowly walked to sit next to Inuzuka Hana, nodding slightly at her relative, Uzuki Yuugao.

"Alright, if everyone's ready, I'll do the register then we can get outside and start with an assessment of everybody's skills, so I can see what I've got to work with."

* * *

**A/N: Right, another rewrite. Yeah, struggling at the moment and most of what I'm producing is utter shite, this just happens to be marginally better. As usual, please review, tell me what you liked, disliked, how I could improve and such.**

**EDIT – 29/07: Expect much updating and rewriting in the next couple of months.**


	4. The Second Day of the Rest of Your Life

**Disclaimer: Standard stuff, Macdutton does not own Naruto or Bleach.**

* * *

**Uzu Tower, 5am**

Torahime awoke with a groan. Again.

"Ugh. Fucking bastard dolphin boy," she grumbled, stumbling out of her room, colliding with Anko.

"What's up princess? Bad day at school?" The feigned care and sweetness irritated Torahime almost as much as the 'princess' comment.

"New sensei. He decided to spend the day testing us," the younger girl growled at her housemate.

"Why's that so bad?" Anko asked, honestly confused.

"Because he put me against weasel-chan and then said we were limited to the Academy Taijutsu."

"Ooh, harsh. I mean seriously, you don't even know the Academy's Taijutsu do you?" Anko felt slightly bad for her younger sister, even as she cackled, thinking about how bad it must have been.

"Fuck. You." Torahime ground out as she bolted into the bathroom.

"Oh for fuck sake bitch, I need a shower now or I'll be late for work!" Anko shouted as she realised what had happened.

"Guess you're gonna be late then!"

Anko swore quietly as she went to get breakfast first, grinning as she used the last of the milk. "Little victories," she sang to herself under her breath.

In the bathroom, Torahime stood under the spray from the shower, thinking about the previous day.

**Flashback**

"Alright kids, today we'll be testing you. The kunoichi next to me will be helping me with the evaluations of your skills, and will help cover parts of your training. Would you like to introduce yourself Kurenai-san?" Iruka inquired of the dark haired woman next to him.

She was medium height, wearing clothes that looked as though they were mostly composed of bandages, in various shades of white and red. Her long, dark hair cascaded around her, but the most captivating part of her was her eyes. They had crimson irises, and almost seemed to glow.

"Thank you, Iruka," she turned to address the gathered students. "My name is Yuuhi Kurenai, you may call me Kurenai-sensei. As Iruka-san said, I will be covering topics relating to tracking, Genjutsu and psychology, among other things. I look forward to training you all." She stepped back, looking to Iruka.

"Okay, here's the thing. The Academy has become very shoddy since I was last here, and I don't like it. So I'm going to try to rectify that, at least with your year," Iruka looked around, considering his charges. "Okay, I'm bored of talking, so get outside to the training fields where we'll be doing tests of your basics." The young man grinned evilly. "You'll be matched for sparring randomly. Now make sure to have fun."

**Flashback End**

"Eugh… This is going to suck," Torahime grumbled to herself. Stepping out of the shower and drying off, she moved to the kitchen, taking over from Anko making breakfast, while the elder girl took her place in the shower.

Finishing, she began to eat and drink slowly, particularly savouring the tea before she began another tiring day.

"You're taking your time aren't you?" The words broke Torahime from her reverie.

"Wha-? Oh, yeah, just trying to relax. How was T&I yesterday?" The redhead questioned her sister?

"Better than I expected. You were right, Ibiki didn't care about my past, just about whether I could do the job," the snake mistress grinned. "I think I may have scared him a bit though."

"How so?"

"Well, my first assignment was to break a confirmed spy from Iwa. I was given free reign, so I got him 'excited', then used a small constrictor to deprive him of something he cares about."

"Wow. That's fucking evil," Torahime was surprised. "I mean seriously, that's pretty grim, even for you. What did he do to deserve that?"

"Questioned why they were sending a little girl at him."

"Ah. Fair enough then."

As Anko sat down to eat, Torahime left to get dressed, determined to actually be on time today.

Leaving quickly, she ran across the rooftops, purposely avoiding the use of chakra to enhance her speed and agility, thinking back to what Iruka had said yesterday.

**Flashback**

"Something I plan to do this year is remedy some damage to the standards required of genin. Focus has become more on the theory and classroom work, such as mathematics. That is a crock of shit. I'll be drilling you to throw a kunai to hit a moving target, instead of teaching you how to do it _theoretically_. I will also be requiring a very high level of fitness from all of you. A shinobi's body is the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, as it is the basis for all skills. When you run, I want you to use only your own body, not chakra. If possible, get ankle and wrist weights to help the process," Iruka lectured the students as they moved towards the training fields.

**Flashback End**

"It's been way too long since I did this…" Torahime mumbled to herself as she leapt from roof to roof.

Suddenly, a tube of paper was flying towards her, fizzling.

_'That looks kinda like… an exploding… tag. Shit!'_

Diving to the side, she evaded the small explosion that ensued, looking around for the one who threw it. It had to be one of the Demo Corps nutcases, but they were about as predictable as a squirrel with ADHD on speed.

From above she heard more fizzling, followed by a terrifying battle cry, "HELLO HIME-CHAN!"

'_Oh goddess it's Renji._'

She turned, throwing one of her speciality bombs at her relative while jumping across the street to the next rooftop. The ensuing explosion blew tiles off the roof and left her ears ringing. Next thing she knew, a body hit the roof next to her and a weak voice reached her ears.

"What the fuck did you put in that one you crazy bitch?" Her second cousin asked, while coughing and retching.

"A special oxidiser. Trade secret," she grinned. "You like it?"

"Oh god yes." Dry heaving one last time, Renji recovered. "Now get a move on, you're late."

"Oh shit!" As she left, Torahime surreptitiously dropped 3 flash bombs.

As she reached the next rooftop, a bang and a bright flash illuminated the area, followed quickly by a scream. "YOU CRAZY BITCH!"

Cackling maniacally, she continued round the Hokage tower, fleeing from the disapproving looks of the ANBU guards.

Reaching the Academy and diving in through the open classroom window, Torahime looked over to the front desk, realising that, even with her shortcut, she was still late.

"Fuck."

"Yeah, you're late. AGAIN!" Iruka shouted at her, vein twitching in his forehead. Visibly calming himself, he said, "Okay, sit down. We'll get on with class." He looked over at his colleague, indicating he was done.

"Okay children, today we're doing the last assessment. Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. We'll be testing you on the three E-ranks and any others you're willing to show." The beautiful kunoichi then ordered the students to line up to display their bunshin, henge and kawarimi no jutsu.

Aburame Shike, Hyuuga Keiko, Uchiha Itachi and Uzuki Yuugao all performed the E-ranks acceptably, Yuugao and Itachi performing all three flawlessly, gaining nods from their senseis.

Yamanaka Inoi, and Hatake Kakumo both correctly performed bunshin and kawarimi, while Nara Shikaga showed herself competent with henge and bunshin. Inuzuka Hana was nodded at when she performed henge and kawarimi.

Sarutobi Hiruki was frowned at when he failed henge and kawarimi, the same happened for Hyuuga Misaki when he could only perform henge correctly. Arisawa Tatsuki performed kawarimi flawlessly, but her henge was sub standard, and she could only produce a single flawed bunshin.

The surprise for the two teachers came in when they asked Torahime to perform Bunshin no Jutsu. There was the characteristic puff of smoke, clearing to reveal 3 perfect copies of the orange haired girl. All seemed well until Itachi grunted.

"They are not bunshin."

Everyone looked at him, recognising the pinwheel of his matured Sharingan eyes. "They look like clones to me," argued Kurenai.

"They are not illusionary constructions. They have chakra. A large amount of it."

Both Hyuuga activated their bloodline and gasped. "They have chakra pathways!" Keiko was shocked.

Torahime sighed exasperatedly. "They're Kage Bunshin. I can't perform regular bunshin. Something to do with my chakra being too wild and having too much."

"Okay, I suppose it might be better actually. Different advantages and disadvantages. Now let's see Henge no Jutsu." Iruka mused.

Putting her hands into the correct seal, Torahime channelled her chakra, transforming into a double of her Inuzuka friend.

"Hmm. Not bad, but the hair colour's a bit off. You forgot to alter your height as well. If you pay better attention to details, you'd be fine. The execution of the jutsu itself is good, if a little wasteful," Kurenai critiqued, Genjutsu being her specialist area. "Now, let's see Kawarimi no Jutsu. Swap with Iruka-san."

There was a split second pause, and she realised she was looking at a dazed Iruka.

"What?" Iruka asked the room at large.

"Would this happen to be another jutsu variation?" Kurenai asked the redhead who was now in Iruka's previous position.

"Kage Kawarimi no Jutsu."

"A kawarimi that is seal-less and doesn't require saying the name? I thought you said before you had bad control?" Iruka asked, plainly confused.

"What can I say, it just comes naturally. And it's impossible to copy, right, weasel-chan?" She finished sweetly, looking at Itachi.

The blank look she got in return told her all she needed to know.

"Well, this has been fun. Is it time to go yet?" Torahime asked as she started walking to the window.

"Err, yeah. You can all go now," Iruka said uncertainly, looking at Kurenai.

The room emptied, with Torahime leaving via the window with Hana, while everyone else left the normal way. Iruka and Kurenai shared a significant look, before departing together for the nearest bar. Once ensconced at a booth with sake in front of them they began to discuss the results of their tests.

"This is going to be a long fucking year," Iruka tiredly complained.

"True, but it should be interesting. A large number of skilled students, several of them with bloodlines, two students who are already mid genin level. I don't think there's been a genin class this promising since my own," mused the red eyed beauty, sipping at her drink.

Iruka looked up at her sadly, "You realise that the Kazama kid's going to be a major problem, right?"

"I don't see why she would be. She's a little wild, but seems no worse than the average Inuzuka. Speaking of Inuzuka, Hana seems remarkably calm for the members of her clan."

Sighing, Iruka downed several cups of sake before he spoke again. "You've never worked with Uzu-nin have you?"

"No, I was due for a border patrol with a Namikaze, but he was withdrawn from active service just before the mission. Are they really that bad?"

The sad look continued. "You've no clue. I worked a lot with Torahime's father, and I live on the edge of the Uzu Quarter. More than half the crime in the village takes place in the Akasen around KazamaTower. The rest of the area isn't as bad, but it's still crazy the things they get up to.

"Importantly, the girl will only get more powerful as she gets older. And those shadow jutsu… I heard about how the Uzu clans had a link with nature, that it was what caused them to leave Uzu no Kuni in the first place." He leaned forward at this point, looking around surreptitiously. "What I'm about to tell you should be kept quiet. The Uzu clans were famous for two things. Nature chakra and a bloodline. Rare, wild and incredibly powerful. Those are the three traits of the clans, especially the Kazama. The bloodline is called Uzuton."

"Spiral release? What does that mean?" Kurenai asked, unsure of where this was going.

"I never knew, I never met someone who had it. As far as I know, only the old Uzumaki leader and a few others have shown it. But Arashi-sensei said his daughter would have it." By this point, Iruka had almost finished his first bottle of sake and was flushed.

"So she has a mysterious and powerful bloodline? I'd suppose that could be why the Sharingan couldn't copy her technique then…"

"No," Iruka slurred, obviously drunk. "I remember her dad… said something about shadowsh… their youkai wash what let them use them." Slumping forward onto the table he continued to mumble, "Shaid the shadowsh belong to the tigersh. Shomething like that. Dancersh in Barbed Shadowsh were dangeroush." The mumbling continued, becoming difficult to decipher, "He wash a Wind Dancer. Shaid she was Goddesh of Barbed Shadowsh, shomething he'd never been able to learn."

Beyond this, the words dissolved into snoring. Kurenai snorted. "Lightweight. But this information about Shadow Dancers and Uzuton… should be an interesting year."

* * *

**A/N: Righty-ho then, another shite chapter for any of you readers. Not sure where this is going to be going but… it is what it is. As usual, please tell me what you thought and how I could improve my writing. Beyond not writing on huge amounts of caffeine at stupid times of night, obviously.**

**29/07/13: Okay, basically, I'm looking for a Beta reader, someone who can look over my crazy ramblings and help turn it into something worth reading. I'd be looking for someone with ****_very _****good grammar, spelling and understanding of ****_British_**** English. Any takers, please PM me.**


	5. The End of the Beginning

**Disclaimer: As per usual, Macdutton does not own Naruto or Bleach.**

* * *

**Kazama Tower, 7am**

"OH FUCK!" The scream was heard all through the tower, echoing up and down corridors and stairwells. "Anko!"

Outside the room, the purple haired mistress of serpents was rolling around on the floor of the kitchen, cackling like the maniac many thought her to be.

Just then, her sister stormed out of her bedroom, glowering and leaking bloodlust. "Bitch, I'm going to kill you."

Anko ignored the threat, choking out a sentence between peals of laughter, "You really don't have time for that, Princess."

"SHIT! I'll get you for this Anko!" Torahime yelled as she sprinted for the shower.

Anko slowly calmed down, then went to replace the batteries she stole from her younger sister's alarm clock. "Hehe, so damn worth it," she giggled before returning to the kitchen to start making breakfast for the redhead. They might be a crazy family who mercilessly played tricks on each other, but they looked after each other.

In the bathroom, Torahime was looking at herself in the mirror, thinking about how things had changed in the past year.

**Flashback**

"Torahime, could I have a word please?" Kurenai caught the redhead before she left after class, about a week into the Academy year.

"Sure, what's up Sensei?" Torahime asked, slightly wary.

"I want to ask you about some things Iruka mentioned," Kurenai spoke cryptically once the other students had cleared the room and the door had closed.

Looking towards her male teacher, the young girl wondered what Iruka could have known that couldn't be shared with the class.

"I worked with your father, Torahime. I know a little about what skills you may possess, or come to possess," Iruka told her quietly. "He said something about Dancing Shadows, which I'm guessing is a Taijutsu style, because he called his Taijutsu Kaze no Mai. He also mentioned Uzuton."

Torahime stiffened at his words, becoming very wary, ready to flee in an instant.

"Torahime, we just want to understand what these things are, and how we can help you develop and harness them. We both want you to become as skilled as possible," Kurenai quietly reassured her, having noted that the girl had dropped into a stance suited to either flight or attack. Along with the preparation for a fight, she noticed a faint… unravelling around her left side. Almost like chakra strings were loosening.

Forcibly calming herself, the orange haired girl moved to sit on a desk, turning her left side slightly away from her two teachers.

"I guess I can explain the broad strokes. Do… do either of you know much about the clans?" She spoke slowly, hesitantly.

"I know a little," Iruka told her, while Kurenai simply shook her head.

"Alright. Basically, there were four clans from Uzu. The Uzumaki and their vassal clans, Uzuki and Namikaze. These were the founding clans of Uzushiogakure no Sato. Kazama was a separate entity, allied to Uzushiogakure through blood and treaties. Many lived outside the village however.

"The history of the Uzumaki, Uzuki and Namikaze is not mine to tell, although I can say that they come from a common root, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Kazama clan were different. Our root lies with the Tigers. We are still tied to them more closely than ever two clans have been tied. Through that bond, we have gained a powerful link with nature, specifically the winds and shadows, the elements that tigers embody.

"Part of our blood is a deep link with the shadows. The secret style of our clan is called Kage no Mai, the Dance of Shadows. Less than half of us are capable of using it though, which is one of the reasons it remains so unknown. We own the shadows in a way no Nara ever could.

"You next asked about Uzuton. The Uzumaki bloodline, it crops up once in a couple of generations. I won't tell you much, beyond that it is incredibly destructive and very dangerous. Anything else, while I'm spilling all my country's secrets?" The sarcastic end to her monologue shocked the others in the room out of their slightly dazed state.

"So you have two Kekkei Genkai?" Iruka asked, amazed.

"Essentially."

"One question. What does youkai have to do with it?" Iruka queried, causing the girl to sigh.

"And there's the problematic question." With another sigh, Torahime stood, turning to face her teachers square on, finally noticing Kurenai frowning at her left arm. "You noticed then? I shouldn't be surprised."

"A Genjutsu, built from hundreds of chakra strings, wound and latticed together then bound into the skin? A near perfectly concealed henge. That was the work of a genius," Kurenai commented, clearly impressed.

"Nearly right. It's actually a fuuinjutsu, and because it's bound into my skin, it is normally invisible to the Sharingan, because it melds with my own chakra system. To the Byakugan though, it would probably look fuzzy I'll have to ask Keiko or Misaki about that. How did you detect it?" Torahime asked, seemingly tired.

"It wavered at the start of this conversation. I'd guess that would be because your chakra is so… wild?" The Genjutsu mistress had an odd tone to her voice when she said the last word.

"Yes," raising her left hand, she made a half ram seal. "Kai."

An explosion of smoke engulfed the room, showing the sheer power contained within the Genjutsu. As it cleared, the two Chuunin were completely shocked.

Torahime's left side was very different. Her back, side and the outside of her arm were covered in black, barbed stripes. More importantly, in place of a hand was an orange and black furred paw with large, sharp claws. Her eye was also different, the black ring surrounding it being much more pronounced now.

The girl smiled, revealing large fangs, and Iruka jumped backwards as a tail could be seen swaying behind her, sporting the same orange and black striped fur as her left hand.

"What's wrong Iruka-sensei? Never seen a Hanyo before," came the predictably cutting remark.

"And this is why you kept avoiding saying that you have a second Kekkei Genkai?" Kurenai asked, surprisingly calm given the situation.

"Yes. My links to nature are no more a Kekkei Genkai than your hair colour is."

"Alright. We'll… we'll speak again about how we can help you train with your… dancing." Iruka was plainly still trying to recover.

"Yes, we'll do what we can. Although you're obviously haven't told us everything," Kurenai was far calmer, already trying to figure out the puzzle pieces she was missing.

"And what kind of ninja would I be if I divulged all my important secrets just like that?" Torahime asked playfully before turning to leave.

"You're just going to go out like that?" Kurenai asked, shocked out of her calculations.

"Of course not." Torahime walked to the shadow cast between the windows, "I already told you. I own the shadows."

With that last parting statement, she was gone.

**Flashback End**

"Well, it's certainly been… interesting." Thinking about all the trouble she'd gotten in with Hana and Keiko she giggled. The moment that stuck in her mind though was Misaki walking in on her and Keiko in a… compromising position. He'd still looked horrified three days later.

Sighing, she thought back on the less fun times, such as the times the Hatake brat had gotten the best of her since she was prohibited from using Kage no Mai, although she'd gotten Kurenai to allow her to use Kaze no Mai, at least.

**Flashback**

Kakumo rushed towards her, striking high, before he dropped to attempt a sweep. Torahime clumsily blocked the strike and moved back, constantly retreating as her opponent drove her, dictating the flow of the spar. After just a few minutes, she was knocked onto her back and the young Hatake was declared the winner.

Looking at Iruka angrily as the suck-up gloated to Itachi, she walked to Kurenai and quietly asked her if she could make an exception and allow her to use Kaze no Mai, seeing as how she was worthless with the Academy's Taijutsu style.

The argument seemed to make sense to the Genjutsu mistress who agreed, calling for a rematch between Kakumo and Torahime.

"Ready for another embarrassing defeat _princess_?" The white haired boy asked.

A feral growl escaped the red haired girl's throat as she slid smoothly into a stance only Iruka recognised. Confused, but still believing he could win easily, Kakumo charged forward, attacking the redhead head on.

As his left hand neared her, she seemed to… flow around his hand, gently moving it so that it would miss by a millimetre. She continued to move, constantly moving her limbs and torso.

At the side of the sparring ring, Itachi suddenly grunted in surprise, "Wind?"

Suddenly, the flow of the fight changed as Torahime made her first strike at Kakumo, a rising kick aimed at his solar plexus. Jumping back, he just avoided the offending limb, but somehow, a colossal impact hit his ribs, throwing him sideways, the muscular girl pursuing.

As he landed, she tried to axe kick his head and all there heard a rushing sound before the impact blew a crater into the ground, Kakumo again evading.

Torahime began moving faster, throwing kick after kick and leaving slashes and impact craters on the environment, landing many on her opponent. A few short minutes later, the Hatake boy was on the floor, bleeding and battered, Torahime having just been declared the winner.

Crouching down, she whispered in the boys ear, "That's real Taijutsu, even if I was holding back. Next time, I'll be cutting things off."

Shivering, Kakumo fled to stand slightly behind Itachi, who ignored him in favour of watching Torahime.

**Flashback End**

Stepping out of the shower, the young tiger Hanyo stood in front of the mirror, fixing her hair into her trademark ponytail. Catching sight of her reflected eyes, she sighed. The black rings and bags underneath were getting pretty bad, even if she overslept this morning. Moving to her room and dressing, she continued thinking of the year gone. She had finally convinced her cousin Renji to do a sealing tattoo for her meteor hammer, a long seal wrapped around her wrist. It meant she no longer had to try to conceal it somewhere on her clothes, a difficult proposition given the size of the weights.

She made it into the kitchen just before Anko finished cooking breakfast. "You're a bitch," she informed her elder sister.

"True," Anko grinned, "But this bitch made you breakfast."

"You're a wonderful person and I love you dearly," Torahime rapidly changed track, thanking her sister as she placed tea and food on the table.

"Good. Now eat up, you've got graduation to get to."

"Yeah. That's gonna be a pain. Why aren't you at work though?" Torahime asked, suddenly realising that Anko usually left around now.

"I've got the next three days off to observe your exams, attend your graduation and all the rest of it. Thought you might appreciate the moral support."

"Thanks. You can watch me kick the crap out of whoever I'm sparring against."

"Unless it's Itachi and they don't let you use weapons."

"Don't even go there," Torahime growled. "That would be utter bullshit."

"True. But Iruka's pretty pissed at you right now."

"Yeah. We probably shouldn't have replaced his salt with MDMA. He nearly got fired for being high at work."

The two shared a giggle at the poor mans misfortune.

"Ah well. Finish up and I'll come with you to the Academy."

That said, Torahime gulped down her tea, checked her weapons and clothing were secure, the walked to the stairs with Anko.

Leaving over the rooftops, they saw a few people around, some closing up bars, gambling dens and brothels while others opened food stands and tea shops.

"Ooh, dango," Anko started to veer off.

"No! Bad Anko! No dango before 10am," Torahime reprimanded her adopted sister.

"But sis… Dango!"

"I said no! Now let's get going before we're late."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so another chapter for you to pour your scorn upon. There's been a timeskip to the end of the year, the day of the final exams. Hope you're enjoying this and please tell me how I could improve. Also, I'm still looking for a Beta, so anyone with good BRITISH English who could give me a hand by checking my grammar, punctuation etc. would be great.**


	6. Old and New

**Disclaimer: Macdutton does not own Naruto or Bleach.**

* * *

**Academy, 8am**

Torahime walked into the classroom at just as Iruka stood up to take the register for the last time, shocking all present. Arriving to class on time was not something she had managed that year. She usually came up with decent excuses though. Sometimes they were even true.

"Oh my god, next thing we see will be horsemen," Hiraki broke the shocked mood, causing him to receive a few confused looks.

Plainly deciding to ignore the strange comment, Kurenai broke the now confused silence. "Well done Torahime, your punctuality is roughly 0.3%. Congratulations."

Cringing slightly, the girl went to sit next to the Hyuuga twins, as far back as possibly to avoid the look her female sensei was giving her. Iruka continued staring in slack jawed amazement until Kurenai poked him in the side, indicating he should get on with registering the children for the last time.

"Okay, so, toady you will be doing your graduation exams in the areas of Taijutsu, stealth, Nin- and Genjutsu, as well as the mandatory written test. Do you all understand and have the things you need?" Everyone nodded. "Good, because if you've forgotten anything you're fucked now." Iruka grinned, earning himself another dig from his colleague.

Frowning in disapproval of the man's antics, Kurenai started her part, "Students, we will be starting the day with Taijutsu, so make your way to the training fields. You may notice some spectators. Please do what you can to ignore them and simply do your best."

**Academy Training Fields**

There were a few observers gathered around the area of the fields that would be used for the graduation exams that day, including Anko, the Jonin sensei who had applied to get a genin team that year and the Hokage. There were also several ANBU there, looking out for potential recruits to the various divisions, though few would notice them.

"According to the teachers we should be in for a good exam this year, according to their reports, there are some really exceptional students coming through," one of the observing Jonin was telling his companion when Anko arrived.

"Yeah, the Uchiha heir is supposed to be a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year," the second ninja replied, earning a withering look from Anko and, strangely, a tall, muscular man in what looked like a green spandex jumpsuit.

"Gai?" Anko asked, slightly impressed by the physique shown off by the man's choice of clothing. Then she noticed he was wearing his hitai-ate around his waist. "You're back on active duty?"

"Hello Anko-san. Yes, I returned to duty three days ago. The Hokage graciously offered me the chance to lead a genin team. He thought it might be better for me to take the time to train others instead of returning straight to the field," Gai seemed somewhat subdued compared to Anko's memories of the man, although after his last mission it wasn't really surprising. The man had spent almost six months in counselling and rehab.

Looking over at the Hokage, she felt the sincere urge to facepalm. The guy was asleep for fuck sake!

"Sometimes I wonder why we listen to that guy," she grumbled. Gai laughed a little.

"Because he's insanely skilled, he's been trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin and Sandaime-sama named him as his **YOUTHFUL** successor."

Anko looked at the green clad man in horror. "Did you just… say 'youthful' in caps and bold?"

"I… don't know." He shuddered. "My apologies, Anko-san. I don't know what came over me."

"… Anyway. So you're looking at putting a team together? Want to talk?" Anko asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Of course. The exams probably won't start for a while so we have plenty of time," Gai sat against a tree before continuing. "My plan is to set up a team suited to high speed strikes. Extractions, assassinations, hunting and such. I want to set up a team that I can mould to work deep in enemy territory. It would be good to have a non ANBU team that specialises in that." Gai looked down, lost in thought, Anko mirroring him unconsciously.

"Sounds like a good idea Gai," an unexpected voice broke the two from their reverie. "If you pull it off, they'll be near guaranteed to get picked up by ANBU in a couple of years." The two looked up to see Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage stood in front of them, grinning like an idiot. "Do you have any ideas on the team makeup yet? I know you've been poring over all their files."

"Well, yes. I've also been talking to some of the ANBU about them, since I know that they've been watching," here he subtly glanced at a nearby tree, startling the porcelain masked ninja hiding there. Minato noticed the direction of his subordinate's gaze and made a mental note that the man was incredibly perceptive. "From the information I've gathered, I'll be trying to get one of the Hyuuga twins, most likely the girl, Keiko. She would be invaluable as a hunter, given her skill in Kyujutsu, and the Byakugan would make finding clear routes to objectives much easier. Besides her? Itachi, possibly. He has shown considerable skill, although his psychological evaluations worry me. Another I'll be aiming to get is Nara Shikaga. She's intelligent. If she can be motivated, she would be an excellent complement to a Hyuuga's ability to gather information.

"I will also be doing my utmost to get Kazama Torahime on my team. The girl has a massive potential for destruction, as well as considerable stealth skills. She is essential to the **YOUTHFUL** team I will be building!" Gai finished passionately, seemingly not realising his slip.

All those near him began to move away slightly, fearing the outburst. Anko and Minato were the only ones who remained near him, although they both backed up slightly, cringing at his words. "Gai. You did it again," Anko informed the inflamed man.

Flinching as the words began to percolate through his mind, Gai began apologising.

"Calm down Gai, it's fine. Just… try not to do that again," the young Hokage was somewhat creeped out by the outburst, but tried to give the damaged Jonin a chance.

"Of course, Hokage-sama. My apologies."

"Anyway, here they come. At least Iruka's sober this today," Minato grinned, noticing Anko stifling a severe fit of giggles. "You seem very amused. Something you'd like to share?"

"No. No, I just find the image of Iruka high on amphetamines funny," she continued giggling.

"And how would you know what he was high on?" Unfortunately for Anko, the Hokage was a very shrewd man. Even worse, he knew an inordinate amount about what the members of the Uzu Quarter got up to.

"Ehehe. Lucky guess?" She laughed nervously until the Hokage grinned and looked back towards the approaching students.

"It's funny. My Internal Affairs team found a large amount of salt in his bin. It seemed almost like Iruka replaced the salt himself, but why would he do that. What seems more likely is someone pranking him. Someone who could access high purity drugs. Strange." The blonde man grinned, "It sounds like something Torahime would do."

"Errm. I had nothing to do with it?" Anko tried to deflect the blame.

"Of course you did, you had to front the cash for it. She just did the dirty work. And she did it damn well. I should compliment her on that."

The students were lined up on the edge of the clearing used for sparring, Iruka and Kurenai quietly discussing the match ups. Eventually, the two sensei looked to their charges and announced the first bout would be Keiko versus Hana.

The fight moved predictably with Keiko disabling Hana's left arm using Jyuuken, then positioning herself for a killing stroke before the Inuzuka girl could stop her. Both were passed, having shown an adequate skills with Taijutsu. The fights between the other students passed similarly, with the only outstanding student being Arisawa Tatsuki who displayed an incredibly talent for a bastardised mixture of Goken and the Academy Taijutsu style. Using it, she brutally destroyed all the defences Hatake Kakumo could put up, earning herself a win.

This was until the final bout. Iruka grinned as he said the two names, "Itachi versus Torahime."

The orange haired girl glared at her sensei, feeling a deep resentment for putting her against the one student who could best her in hand to hand combat. Then she realised. There were no rules against weapons. Grinning, she looked to Itachi, who almost flinched at her feral visage.

Taking up their respective stances, they sized each other up, preparing.

"Hajime!" Iruka shouted.

Torahime launched herself forwards, moving quickly to short range and engaging Itachi with a series of sweeping kicks aimed at getting her body, and the air currents around it, moving. Itachi fought defensively, measuring the girl's range, searching for an opening. He then began to notice the air around him seeming to charge up and move too quickly.

Activating his Sharingan, he immediately noticed the huge cloud of chakra around him, revealing what his opponent had been doing. All her wild, crazy kicks had been doing was releasing a large amount of wind nature chakra into the air, bending it to her will, speeding its flow.

Seeing his eyes change and guessing he had noticed her plan, Torahime grinned and started to push the wind into her strikes. What had before been powerful kicks now became wrecking balls, leaving large craters or long, deep gouges; her occasional punch would throw Itachi back as he tried to move close enough to strike at her. This was what Kaze no Mai was all about. Controlling the flow of a battle, just as one controlled the flow of the wind around oneself.

The only problem was, with his Sharingan, Itachi could dodge most of her techniques, even landing a few hits of his own.

Growling her displeasure, Torahime grasped a handle at her waist and pulled, revealing a long chain with a blade at its tip. Iruka gasped, realising he had not banned the use of weapons for this match.

Swinging the chain-whip around herself to build its momentum, Torahime began to attack again, forcing Itachi to retreat further and faster. Realising he couldn't get inside the range of the whip without risking serious injury, he began throwing kunai and shuriken but was disappointed by the results. Torahime could simply alter her swings to cut off the ranged weapons, moving them around her and even deflecting a couple directly back at him.

Grinning wildly again the orange haired Hanyo taunted Itachi, "What's wrong Itachi-chan? Can't work out how to get me?" Throwing herself forward, she made long, arcing slashes at the boy, driving him ever backwards, slashing her way through his thrown weaponry all the way. It was during this exchange that Itachi noticed. She did not actually block the thrown weapons, she simply moved her attacks through those that would hit her, deflecting them. Her 'defence', for lack of a better word, ignored attacks that wouldn't hit. Seeing his chance, Itachi threw some more shuriken, following them with kunai. As some of the shuriken passed behind her, the kunai he had thrown deflected, a single knife coming back at her from above.

He was sure the attack would hit her left shoulder until her right arm moved forward rapidly, a _second _chain-whip being pulled with it, moving vertically to deflect the throwing knife. Itachi's reaction was fairly appropriate.

"Shit."

The girl grinned maniacally and began whirling like a dervish, the spiked chains creating a tornado of metallic death around her. Where he had been able to dodge one fairly easily, two of the unpredictably weapons proved too much, and he eventually misstepped, being caught around the throat by Torahime's left chain-whip.

"Yame!" Kurenai yelled, seeing the danger. Torahime quickly reduced the tension in her whip, allowing it to go slack and fall from Itachi's neck.

Running forward, the med-nin in attendance quickly checked, and upon only finding minor injuries declared Itachi fit to continue. At this point, applause was heard.

"Well done everyone, you all put on an excellent display of your skills," everyone present looked to the blonde Hokage who was walking forward, clapping loudly. "However I want to draw attention to three students. Arisawa Tatsuki," he directly addressed the dark haired girl. "You had displayed a genius ability to develop your own Taijutsu. That was modified from a few instances where you have seen Goken? Excellent. You should seek a real Goken teacher. The style suits you well.

"Next, I would like to point out Itachi's display. Not only did he prove himself competent with Taijutsu, he displayed an important part of being a shinobi. Adaptability. When faced with an opponent he could not engage through one means, he moved to another, even using deflected kunai to attempt to break that opponents advance. You should all learn from this." Minato looked at all the students.

"Finally we have Torahime," he smiled at his relative. "She displayed a very dangerous type of Taijutsu. One that relies totally upon attack. Itachi saw that she did not defend, so much as use her own attacks to deflect thrown weapons. What she also showed was an ability to recognise loopholes. Although this test was designed to examine unarmed skills, weapons were not banned. Similar situations may occur in your careers, so you should learn to recognise and exploit them." The Hokage looked over at Gai at this point, seeing him watching with rapt attention, while Anko took large sums of money from another spectator who had obviously bet on Itachi to win.

"Something we must remember though, is that an attack focussed style is open to retaliation by stronger or faster enemies. Defence has its place," as he said this, he stared hard at Torahime who glared back at him, unconsciously revealing her _very _sharp teeth in challenge. "Anyway, I've spoken for too long. I'll hand you all back to Iruka and Kurenai." He walked back to his chosen spot, flopped onto the grass and began snoring. All tension broke at this and massive sweatdropping ensued.

"Ooookay. Errm. Ninjutsu and Genjutsu then. Yeah. So line up kids, we'll be doing the E-ranked techniques in order," Iruka tried to regain his composure and the attention of his audience. Needless to say, he failed miserably.

"Line up. You're going to henge into Yondaime-sama. Now," Kurenai told the students forcibly, snapping them out of their funk.

All the students performed their Henge no Jutsu to an acceptable level, Kakumo and Tatsuki being reprimanded for minor flaws in their illusions, but given that the problem was not with the technique itself, they were considered to have passed. Next came Bunshin no Jutsu, all of the students again were passed, having produced 3 acceptable clones. Torahime grinned slightly at Minato who grinned back. He knew all about her little loophole here.

Finally, the students were told to perform Kawarimi no Jutsu while Iruka and Kurenai threw blunted shuriken at them. Here, it was specifically stated that the students must swap with logs. Nothing else. Torahime grinned again. They made that point because she had once swapped with Kakumo during a similar exercise. Again, the students all performed successfully, Torahime doing fake hand seals and saying the technique name just for show.

"Okay, next, I will place each of you in a Genjutsu. You will have to break out of it using whatever means necessary," Kurenai told them.

All the students managed to eventually escape the Genjutsu, although Hana almost took too long. Unsurprisingly, Itachi, Misaki and Keiko broke their Genjutsu immediately due to their Kekkei Genkai.

Next, they went inside for the 60 minute written test, taking them up to lunch. While the students ate, complained about how difficult the test was and ribbed each other over the Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu portions of the test, Kurenai and Iruka marked the tests, sighing in relief each time a student gained enough marks to pass.

Eventually, once all the tests had been marked and the half hour allotted for lunch was spent, the students filed back in. Their marks had been written on the blackboard and their teachers smiled at them. "Well done! You all passed the practical portions, as well as the horror that is the written test. You have therefore qualified for the final part of your Academy graduation exam. The stealth test," Iruka told the students.

"For this test, you will each be given a sheet of paper with a location. At that location will be a package with your hitai-ate and Genin registration forms. Once you receive your location, you will have exactly one hour to retrieve your package. The information is on the desks, collect yours and be ready for my mark," Kurenai told the students, noticing Keiko subtly activating her bloodline.

Once everyone was ready, Kurenai flipped over a sand timer and told them to begin. Opening their papers and quickly leaving, Iruka and Kurenai couldn't help but notice that Torahime immediately grabbed Keiko and Shikaga, dragging them out of the window with her.

Once the room was clear, Iruka spoke, "I think she saw through the test."

"Not quite. Shikaga whispered something to her after I explained the rules. If I had to guess, she's going to get Keiko to find the packages with her Byakugan then they'll work together to find them and get past the traps. Shikaga is smart enough that she'll have worked out there will be traps," Kurenai corrected her colleague, smiling proudly at the thought of such promising kunoichi.

"Ah well. However it happens, we have an hour to relax," Iruka grinned, flopping into a chair tiredly. Kurenai broke with her usual habits and imitated him.

"It's been a long morning."

On the roof of the Academy building sat three girls in a triangle. The 'Queen of Apathy' had just finished explaining her plan and the other two were nodding in agreement. Jumping up, Torahime said to her two friends, "Okay, lets get going. We've only got about 56 minutes left. Shika, yours is 800m North, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, Kei-chan should be able to find it once we get within half a kilometre or so. Is that correct?" The girl slowly asked the third member of their trio.

"Yes. The range of my Byakugan is 483m. Once we are roughly that near I should be able to spot it, assuming the location on the paper is accurate," the quiet girl replied, her formal speech belaying her relaxed nature.

"Lets go then. You keep an eye out for traps, okay?" Torahime instructed.

"Hai," the twin reply greatly pleased he young Hanyo.

They began running across the rooftops of Konoha, keeping their chakra use to a minimum to avoid chakra sensitive traps and detection by any sensors looking for them. A short time later, Keiko announced she had spotted the package, but there were several traps set up around it. Stopping in the shadowy alley across from the packages location, Torahime looked carefully, spotting a large shadow that looked perfect.

"Okay ladies, you've done your bits, now for mine." Without elaborating further, the girl stepped into a deep pool of shadow, instantly reappearing next to the non-descript envelope. Keiko and Shikaga gasped, never having seen their friend use her Kagepo technique before. They saw her grab the package and immediately disappeared, just as a shuriken trap was launched at where she had been standing. Once again she was standing next to them, having reappeared almost instantly.

"What the hell was that?" The Hyuuga and Nara girls asked together, amazed.

"Kagepo. Secret family technique," Torahime gave her trademark feral grin.

"That's it? No elaboration?" Shikaga asked, plainly annoyed at the puzzle that it presented.

"Yeah, pretty much," Torahime's grin grew.

"Troublesome. Whatever, we need to go East-South-East now for Keiko's package," the genius strategist said, reminding all present that they were not finished yet.

Unknown to the girls, a spandex clad man was tailing them, listening in to their conversation. "Hmm. Good teamwork, division of responsibilities. They'll make a good team."

At the next site, the girls encountered a similar setup the dealt with just as easily, so they quickly headed further north, outside of the populated areas of Konoha towards the location of Torahime's package.

Upon nearing the location, Keiko stopped in her tracks. "Holy fucking shit!" The foul language shocked the other two as it was so out of character.

"What?" They both asked, worried.

"There's got to be _hundreds_ of explosives around the envelope," she explained.

Torahime paled. "Great. The Demo Corps got involved," she groused as she tried to think of a solution that would allow her to survive. Looking carefully at the location she could see the masses of explosive tags and other munitions gathered around the package. Then an idea struck her, as she noticed that all the munitions were low explosive. "… They have a burn time," she mumbled.

"What?" Shikaga asked.

"All those explosives take a split second to explode, because _technically_, they burn instead of explode," Torahime explained slowly. "If I could move fast enough, I could pick up the package and get out before getting blown up…"

"You are insane," Keiko told her worriedly.

"That's news?"

"Oi. I have feelings you know," Torahime shot back at Shikaga who just smiled slightly. "Kei, reckon you could fire a chakra arrow attached to my foot?"

"What? Errm. I guess so," the young Hyuuga girl said nervously, thinking about the logistics. Drawing the recurved bow from the small of her back, she strung it, pulling an arrow from the quiver strapped to the same place.

"I hate this thing," she mumbled.

"Why?" Torahime asked, wondering if this was a good idea.

"It's too small and weak. But my longbow is too big to carry," Keiko explained.

"Hmm. I might have a solution to that later… but for now, lets fire me from a bow!"

"Haaa... Okay, Hime-chan."

Setting her left foot on the tip of the nocked arrow, Torahime crouched, ready to spring forwards.

"Three… two… one… FIRE!" Keiko called out, releasing her chakra charged arrow on the last word. Torahime moved with the arrow, pushing against it and firing herself off at incredible speed, tearing chunks out of the ground while she pumped masses of chakra to her legs, digging into the soil as though she had claws.

Moving faster than most could follow, she flashed through the explosive filled clearing, grabbing the envelope on the way past, never slowing her reckless pace. As the explosives detonated, she pushed harder, only just outpacing the explosion, but she was still thrown off her feet by the pressure wave.

"Ugh. Not doing that again," she grumbled as she stood up and moved to rejoin her companions.

"You're crazy. Grade A, bat-shit fucking loco," Shikaga informed her when she reached them.

"Oh thanks Shika, I really appreciate that ringing endorsement," Torahime's words dripped sarcasm. "What's up with you Kei?" She questioned her friend, noticing she looked a bit odd.

"Nothing!" The girl quickly said, blushing faintly.

"Ah, whatever. I know explosions get you off," Torahime teased.

"Wha- no! I-I- NO!" Though the denials could be heard, the porcelain skinned Hyuuga blushed even more.

"Heh, whatever, lets get going," Torahime grinned, enjoying making her friend uncomfortable.

On the bluffs nearby stood Uzumaki Renji and the current head of the ANBU Demolition Corps. "That. Was fucking. AWESOME!" Renji said happily once the girls were out of earshot.

"Yes. Yes it was. And we have _got_ to get that girl. She saw through the weak point in the setup and found a way to beat it. She'll go far if we can get her into the ADC." The purple haired woman looked at Renji. "You were right. She has turned out pretty good."

"Told you taicho. Now I need to go make a start on making more powder. I used my whole stock," Renji sighed sadly.

Gai was struggling to contain his enthusiasm. The girls were a perfect team. If he had to kill, he was getting them. All they needed was a little guidance and they'd be perfect for the role he had planned.

**"HOOOOO! THEIR YOUTHFUL FIRES ARE BLAZING BRIGHTLY!" **He shouted the words, tears streaming from his eyes, his teeth gleaming. Around Konoha, various people flinched and began to cry with inexplicable terror.

**Academy, 2pm**

"Well, you've all passed the academy graduation, congratulations!" Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage led the round of applause from those who had attended the graduation ceremony. "All of you will need to hand in your registration forms by midday tomorrow and return to this room. Until then, we will be sorting the final team assignments and other bureaucratic nightmares. Again, congratulations on graduating the Academy. If all Jonin-sensei could follow me to my office, we'll get to work." That said, the blonde man flickered out of the room.

"Alright, get out. I want my half a day off," Iruka shouted at the kids, gaining a few laughs from the gathered observers. As the former Academy students filed out, Torahime stepped up to her former senseis.

"Thank you. For understanding and helping me," she said in a quiet voice, surprising the two Chuunin.

"Of course," Kurenai replied first, surprised at the show of gratitude from the unpredictable girl.

"Yeah. It's not like we could just abandon you," Iruka smiled. "Now seriously, get out. I need to drink."

Kurenai laughed, "What, planning on being in bed by 3pm, Iruka?" This comment caused the man to go bright red at the reminder of his normal reaction to even small amounts of alcohol. "Go on, Torahime. Prepare yourself for your new life, and make us proud to have taught you."

**Hokage's Office**

The Hokage's office was a large room, dominated by a desk between two large windows. The walls were lined with shelves, all the way up to the high ceiling. The people gathered in the room were currently engaged in arguing to get the teams they wanted, while the Hokage himself was simply resting his head on his desk.

After a good ten minutes, the blonde stood up and asked them to be quiet. His request went unheard or ignored, causing a vein to start pulsing in his forehead. "I SAID SHUT IT!" He yelled, finally losing all patience. "Now, I've listened to you going arguing and I've made my decisions, based on your requests and on reviewing the reports. First off, Gai. You're getting the team you requested, composed of Nara Shikaga, Hyuuga Keiko and Kazama Torahime." Before he could continue, one of the other Jonin present started to complain. For his efforts he got punched through the wall of the office. "I wasn't negotiating Riichi. My decision is final. You were asking for a combat support team, so you're getting Hyuuga Misaki, Hatake Kakumo and Aburame Shike. They should balance fairly well.

"Hizashi, you asked for a medic, so you're getting Inuzuka Hana, she has a good basis for medic-nin training, given her veterinary skills. The rest of your team will be Uzuki Yuugao and Sarutobi Hiruki as combat specialists for protection," he told the stoic Hyuuga who simply nodded his understanding. "Finally, Shikaku, you will be in charge of Yamanaka Inoi, Uchiha Itachi and Arisawa Tatsuki. That should provide a good basis for a balanced team." Minato finished his pronouncements, telling the four Jonin to collect their teams the following day.

As they were leaving, an ANBU messenger appeared in the room, kneeling before the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, we've just received confirmation. Iwagakure has declared war upon us." Hearing this, all the Jonin stopped in their tracks. "Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Sunagakure also appear to be massing their forces near their borders. None appear to be allied, however." Finished delivering his report, the messenger bowed again before being dismissed by a wave of the Hokage's hand.

"It seems we won't be getting much of a grace period. Change of plans, we'll be gathering your teams today. You'll need as much time as possible to start their training," the Hokage sighed again, clearly saddened by the turn of events. "Hiruzen was right. This will be the Third Shinobi World War. Yomi," he called, summoning the head of the ANBU. "Call for a full gathering of our available forces for 3pm. I'll need to announce this. Once my announcement is finished, I'll need you to gather the current graduating Genin class." Once the Hokage finished giving his orders, the ANBU Commander and the four Jonin left to gather the rookie Genin.

Looking through the window to the HokageMonument, Minato felt a deep sadness. There would be a lot of deaths in the coming months. Friends would be lost, families broken… he had made his name in the war with Iwa, earned himself such a terrifying reputation that 'flee on sight' orders had been issued by the Tsuchikage. Adding to his sadness was the realisation that the smaller countries that bordered the Great Five would be dragged in. Ame, Kusa, Taki, so many countries that didn't need any involvement with the quarrels of their larger neighbours. With another deep sigh, Minato began to draught his announcement.

**Outside the Hokage Tower, 3pm**

All the shinobi gathered outside the tower were nervous. It was well known among the ranks that war had been looming for the past year. Did this gathering mean that it had finally happened? One of the villages had declared war?

Grouped near the back of the crowd, the Uzu-nin looked grim to a man. They were raised to hate the shinobi of the other four Great Villages, as well as those of Ishi and Kusa, for their attacks on Uzushiogakure.

The Hokage walked out onto the balcony of the tower a few minutes before 3. Looking down at the assembled troops, he wondered how many of them would be killed, how many would he lose this time? Raising his voice to be heard over the whole square, he addressed the shinobi. "I have grim news. Iwagakure has formally declared war upon us and the other nations appear to be preparing their forces to join the war. We can count on the support of Sunagakure, but the positions of Kirigakure and Kumogakure are currently unknown." The young leader paused, the weight of his words sinking into the gathered ninja. He gazed around, taking in the various reactions, from the sighs of the Nara and quiet stoicism of the Hyuuga and Aburame, to the barely contained rage and excitement of the Uchiha and Inuzuka clans, as well as everything in between.

"This war will be new. Some of you still remember the Second Shinobi World War, the horror of pitched battles, volleys of weapons and jutsu. Such battles again will not be risked again, there will be no formal lines. All the world saw what happened in our war with Iwa and none will risk the destruction of an army to a single jutsu. As I said, this war will be new. I will need to see the heads of all divisions, as well as all clan heads in my conference room in ten minutes. Disperse."

With his final words, the crowd dissipated, heading out to think on their futures. The bars and brothels in the Uzu Quarter would be doing good business tonight.

Walking slowly, Minato made his way to the conference room, his position bearing down upon his shoulders like never before. During the Iwa conflict, he hadn't had this much responsibility. Sure, he'd led teams on various raids and during battles, he'd even been put in charge of battle groups in the latter days, but he'd never been in charge of more than a dozen people. Now… now he held in his hands the lives of _thousands_. He was responsible for the fate of the _whole village_.

His reverie was broken by two quiet sets of footsteps behind him. Looking around he saw two old men, greyed and weathered by time. "Kensuke, Arashito…" He croaked, not quite sure how to react to their appearance.

"You're doing it again," the elder of the Uzumaki reprimanded him, his voice still the deep, powerful rumble it had been in his youth. "You're doubting yourself. Stop doing that and get the fuck on with it."

"And you're not alone. You know better than that. Didn't we say we'd be here? Do you have that little faith in your family?" Arashito's words cut deep, reminding the young Hokage of his last conversation with the elders of Uzu.

"I'm just scared. All these people… all the deaths we face. They're my responsibility," Minato whispered, his strong, happy façade failing in the presence of his teachers.

"Of course they are. You're their leader," Uzumaki Kensuke's brutal statement shocked Minato out of his funk, causing him to simply gape. "That means that you have to do everything you can to win, and win quickly. Or run. Take every person you care about and flee to a safe haven."

"But we fled once. We ran, and we ran, looking over our shoulders every day hence," Arashito growled, his anger obvious. "And now our enemies return. No more running. No more restraint."

"The old tiger is right. They were allowed to survive, to get away with their atrocities in Uzu. No more."

Minato had always suffered from premonitions. He saw flashes of how the future and past linked. As he looked at the two ancient sentinels, remnants of an age long lost, he saw the shadows of others. In Kensuke, he saw his own son, grown into a man, the mane of blond hair flowing around his face. In the ancient leader of the Kazama, he saw the young heir to the clan, Torahime, who would come into her true inheritance. All this, he saw for just an instant, the truth of their lives hammering into his mind.

"You plan to die." It was not a question, but a statement. Minato knew.

"Our time is long since gone. The world has moved on since the days that were ours." Kensuke sighed sadly, every year of almost a century of life visible in his face.

"But we will remind these villages of why they should fear us." Arashito said the words Minato had feared. "I must go. I need to speak to my grand-daughter."

With that, the man vanished into the shadows of the corridor.

"Always so dramatic," Kensuke mumbled.

"You will want to lead the first battles I'm guessing?" Minato had resigned himself to the loss they would suffer.

"No. We will stay with you for a short time, to teach you what little we still can. Then…" The old man's eyes glazed over. "Then we will release ourselves. They will remember why we were the Sixth Great Nation."

**Kazama Tower, Later**

Torahime walked into the flat she shared with Anko, quietly wondering what would become of her life. War? Was she ready? Was anyone ready for that? Was it _possible_ for anyone to be ready for that? No answers presented themselves and she sighed.

"It's been a long time, Hime-chan."

The voice sounded from the shadows in the corner of the room. She turned rapidly to look there, releasing a large amount of bloodlust and chakra, shredding the Genjutsu over her left side and revealing her true appearance.

"Now, now, no need for such aggression Hime-chan. I'm only here to talk."

Still growling and remaining in her combat stance, Torahime looked on the weathered visage of a man many thought dead. Kazama Arashito was casually sprawled in front of her, his body no longer bearing much semblance of humanity. He had lived so long that his Youkai blood had turned him into a bipedal tiger, his only human feature being his right eye, whose pupil was still round.

"The blood ever comes through," he told her, noting her looking at his form. "I see yours is becoming particularly powerful already." The statement caught Torahime off guard and she relaxed her stance.

As the girl stood straight, the old man could see an incredible specimen of a tiger Hanyo. She was fairly tall, with thick, long legs and large powerful shoulders. Her left arm had completely formed into that of a tiger, ending in a strange, anthropomorphic mixture of hand and paw. Looking at the slightly awkward way she stood, he guessed both feet were digitigrade, likely also furred and clawed. The tail swaying close to the floor behind her also showed the extremity of her blood. All this he took in, but nothing captivated him as much as her eyes. The blazing orange irises and dark markings on the surrounding skin, all surrounding the discs of perfect darkness that were here pupils. "Both eyes already…" he murmured, surprised by the extent of her transformation.

Shaking off his surprise he began to speak, "It's time you learned about your heritage. I was not the one who was meant to tell you this, but circumstances demand it. Sit." It was not a request. "You are aware that my son, your father, was a Hanyo like us, like the rest of our clan." She nodded, wondering where he was going with this, but interested. "What you do not know is that your mother was not. We never told you any more than the fact that she loved you, because you were not deemed ready for this knowledge. Your mother was the Queen of Tigers, descendant of the Empress herself." Torahime was shocked, her hand moving to grasp her right shoulder. "She and your father were attracted from their first meeting. It was… a short lived relationship, but not by any fault of their own. She died soon after your birth, and her last words were to name you. Did you really think that your name was a coincidence?"

The words were causing Torahime's head to spin, the enormity of their meaning slowly beginning to sink in. "Mother… my mother… was a tiger? A pure-blood tiger?"

"Yes," Arashito sighed sadly. "It's why your blood is so strong. I took nearly 50 years to reach your point. But I don't think you will become such an abomination as I."

"What? How are you an abomination?"

"I am a half blood, but I hold the second greatest of our legacies. That has driven me to this extremity of transformation. You are far purer of blood, and burdened with the greatest of our power. I would expect your transformation will slow soon, until you reach a plateau. Beyond that, you will be able to influence your own body, moving further towards a tiger as and when you wish. You may even be able to regress back to that plateau, although I do not know."

"I… I don't know what I'm supposed to say now," Torahime was totally lost for words, floored by the enormity of what the ancient patriarch of her clan was saying.

"Asking questions is usually a good place to start," Arashito laughed.

"I… You said something about 'The greatest of our power'. What do you mean?"

"Ah, you're far too observant child. You are aware that you have a… tenant?" Torahime nodded. "Good. I'm guessing you were never told the full details of our history then?"

"No, I was just told that the Empress of Tigers is our link with the shadows. I never really understood that."

"Well, now I'll explain properly. The origins of our clan are ancient, more ancient than any other that I know of. There was once, long ago, a powerful beast with an unparalleled connection with the Void. Using her strength, she expanded her power, conquering and subjugating other tigers, allowing them to live just as they had before, once they swore to answer her call. Before long, she had earned the right to call any tiger to her aid and declared herself the Empress of Tigers. This meant nothing to the others of her race, who simply acknowledged her as a powerful ally. She laid down a few simple rules, the rules we follow to this day.

"These rules were workable only because they were flexible. They permitted the tigers to continue to live their solitary lives, but made it easier for them to aid each other, in the case of attack by others, for example to wolf tribes. Eventually, a vague clan system evolved, the loose ties still allowing for the individuality that made them so unique.

"This building of power did not go unnoticed by the other powers of the world. The Toads, Wolves, Dogs, Crows and other clans all began to truly fear the Tigers. Where once, they had simply been the most powerful creatures in the lands, they were now more closely linked. If a single Tiger could destroy a pack of dogs, what could a streak of them do? So the other animal clans colluded, calling on their human allies to aid them in breaking the potential power of the Tigers. This was a genius plan, and we saw it's like when directed against Uzu. But they never knew about the closeness of the Tigers to a clan of humans. A clan they had been melding with. The Kazama.

"Hanyos with other animal races are incredibly rare, excepting the Foxes. But we all contain at least a small portion of Tiger blood. When the other clans moved against the Tigers, they met powers they simply could not contend with. Yes, they killed many of them, pure-bloods, Hanyo and humans, but they were beaten back, ambushed, destroyed, again and again, by the Shadow Dancers. These Dancers were led by a terrifying apparition, a creature who had accepted the Void and controlled its horrific power, tearing into them from the darkness.

"Eventually, the Tigers simply vanished, along with the human clan they had taken such a shine to. Nobody knew where they went, only that tigers continued to exist around the world, as wraiths, never fully seen, at least not by those who lived. So, they faded into legend. Except in Uzu, where we had never been hunted. We were similar to the Uzumaki you see. Warriors, bound by blood to a clan of animals. Eventually, this similarity led to us joining the Uzu pact, the agreement that formed Uzushiogakure no Sato. And you know the rest from there."

"But what about the Empress?" Torahime asked desperately, completely enraptured by her elder's story. "What happened to her?"

Arashito smiled at his descendent. "She eventually died, but her spirit lingered. A being so powerful, and so closely linked to the Void cannot leave this world. It is the reason for our burdens."

"So she… was sealed?"

"Yes, Hime. After her death, her spirit was restless, and she wandered for many years, walking in step with her kin, until her wanderlust was overtaken by her need to truly _feel_ the world. For our blood instils a powerful need to travel, a distaste for sedentary natures. But we have a deep connection with nature and the world, through are link to the Void. So she found my father, and asked to be sealed into a baby, and when that baby grew, she became powerful. So very powerful…" The old man smiled reminiscently. "Eventually however, that girl died, and the Empress was left to wander again, to sate her need to travel. Finally though, she again felt the need to feel the world. So she came to me. And between myself and Kensuke, we sealed her into a newborn baby, a young girl of the Kazama clan." Arashito looked at her, staring into her eyes. "We sealed the Empress into her most direct descendent."

Torahime simply sat, stunned. Her? Heir and Jinchuuriki to the Empress of Tigers?

"Fuck."

**"Well finally. Thought the old coot would never tell you."**

The voice that suddenly sounded in her head shocked the girl so much she leapt across the room. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

**"Honestly, he's just told you that you have an immensely powerful ancient beast sealed inside you and you're surprised that she talks?"** The voice sounded amused at the reaction. **"I suppose I cannot expect better, it must be somewhat surprising."**

Staring accusingly at her grandfather, Torahime ground out a single word, "Explain."

Arashito sat for exactly three seconds before collapsing, laughing uproariously and rolling around on the floor. "Oh my Goddess! That was brilliant. I never thought you'd react that extremely!" Wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes, he looked at his granddaughter. "Sorry, we agreed that she wouldn't speak to you until you were ready. If she did from day one, it might have driven you crazy or something."

**"I don't think she really needs my help with that."**

"Shut it you. I'm not crazy." Torahime growled.

**"You ran ****_through_**** an explosion. I'd say that qualifies rather well."**

"I'd like to point out, you seem to be talking to yourself." Arashito decided to chime into the apparently one-sided conversation. All he got in return was a glare. "It'll take some time getting used to. But to help you along, you might be able to communicate mentally. If you can do that, less people will think you're crazy."

Luckily, at this point an ANBU appeared in the doorway and stopped, gaping at the two feral looking beings in front of him.

"Yes?" the young Hanyo said irritably while the elder continued to chuckle.

"I- I've been sent to collect… Torahime-san," the fresh ANBU croaked out.

"Fucking great, that means I don't even have time to get someone to reapply the Genjutsu. This is your fault old man." She sniped at her grandfather.

"Here, I'll redo it, but you should at least show your team, maybe even explain about your tenant." He told her as he made a series of handseals, finishing by placing his left hand on her shoulder, reapplying a variation of the Genjutsu that made her appear fully human. "This should hold for a while. Get a better one put on as soon as you can though."

"Right, let's go ANBU-san." Torahime took control easily since the messenger was obviously a new ANBU initiate. "Seriously though, what the fuck is that mask?"

"Axolotl." The man replied tonelessly.

"Ouch. Someone was creative."

"You're telling me?"

They continued to verbally spar as he led her towards the designated meeting place, the roof of the HokageTower. When they arrived, Torahime bade him goodbye, quietly reassuring him he'd only have the absurd mask for a few more months. Unless he fucked up badly. Then he'd likely be stuck with it for a year or so.

Looking around, Torahime saw the rest of her graduating class, as well as several Jonin. Wondering what was going on, she walked over to Keiko and asked what was going on, only to learn that nobody knew, they had just been summoned by the ANBU.

A few seconds later, Minato walked onto the roof with a grim expression, followed by an old man with long, grey hair and an enormous sword. "You're all here, good, good. Well, you're probably wondering why. These four Jonin are to be your sensei and commanding officers. Your chain of command is simple. Unless directly issued by myself, no order countermands theirs. Do you understand this?" Everyone nodded. "Well you are going to prove it. You will each walk within," he made a few handseals then stepped out of the 2m circle that formed, "this sealing circle and explain my words."

The fresh Genin proceeded to do just that, each one being nodded out of the circle once finished. Eventually, Torahime stepped into the circle to confront the Hokage and the old man with him.

"So, Torahime, explain your chain of command." The terse command showed her just how strained the Namikaze man was, considering he was usually so happy and relaxed.

"I will always follow orders from my Jonin sensei, unless they directly conflict with orders issued by the Hokage himself," she recited quietly. "That is my chain of command, but it doesn't explain the procedure regarding higher ranking shinobi outside my direct chain of command. What do I do if an ANBU gives me an order?" Torahime asked the simple question that had been bugging her during her wait.

"Good, you noticed. Only the Nara kid actually noticed that I didn't mention that. Basically, you should always be a part of your Genin cell, so orders will be given to your Jonin sensei or other commanding officer. If however, you are separated from your cell and receive orders from an ANBU or Jonin, it will likely be in the capacity of a field subordinate. That means you will temporarily become a part of their combat cell. Later, you will likely become part of a battle group, in which case your chain of command will be clearly defined. So reiterate your current chain of command to me." Once again, the Hokage ordered her to clarify her understanding of the orders he had issued.

"I follow all orders given by my Jonin sensei when I am part of their Genin cell, unless these orders directly conflict with orders given by you. If I am not part of a genin cell, orders by a superior rank are to be followed, making me a part of that shinobi's cell." Torahime spoke slowly, making sure to understand her own words.

"Correct. Now tell me your chain of command, from the top down."

"Yourself, followed by my Jonin sensei. In cases where I am not under the command of my Jonin sensei, my sensei is replaced by the ranking shinobi in the area."

"Good. Now we'll sort teams, then you belong to the Jonin for a while." Raising his hands into a dispelling handseal, Minato dissolved the silence seal he had used. "Okay, team allocations. Team Riichi will be Hyuuga Misaki, Hatake Kakumo and Aburame Shike. Team Shikaku will be Yamanaka Inoi, Uchiha Itachi and Arisawa Tatsuki. Team Hizashi, Sarutobi Hiruki, Inuzuka Hana and Uzuki Yuugao. Team Gai, Hyuuga Keiko, Nara Shikaga and Kazama Torahime. Jonin, you have your instructions." With that, he left the rooftop.

Gai was the first to move, calling his new students and telling them to follow him. He led them through the tower slowly, moving outside and passing the buildings until he reached a park. Climbing the stairs of a building in silence, he finally settled them on the roof garden, where he sat facing the three girls.

"Errm, hello, I thought we could start with some introductions so I could get to know you a little before I start explaining about my plans for this team. I'll go first. My name is Maito Gai, I am a Jonin of Konohagakure, my favourite food is curry, my favourite pastime is Taijutsu training. My dream is to become the world's greatest Taijutsu master. Would you like to go next, Shikaga-san?"

"Ah, troublesome. Nara Shikaga, Genin, rice, chess, surviving," Shikaga listed off answers to the same things as Gai, minimising the effort she expended.

"Well, that was rather informative. Thank you, Shikaga-san. Keiko-san, would you like to take over."

"Of course," Keiko said demurely. "I am Hyuuga Keiko, sister to Misaki. I am now a Genin of Konoha, my favourite food is sashimi, my preferred pastime would be archery and I wish to free Hinata-sama from the hatred of the elders of my clan." Her willingness to share such things surprised Gai, but it also reassured him that he had chosen correctly in his team.

"And finally, would you like to tell me about yourself Torahime-san?" Gai asked the fiery girl who rounded out his team.

"Hmm. Well, the first thing I should probably do is show you something." The statement confused those present, until she put her hands in a ram seal. "Just going to ask you not to freak too much." Thus saying, she released chakra and broke the Genjutsu.

Her teammates and sensei simply stared as she sat back down and took off her boots, sighing in relief at getting the stupid things off. "What, no screaming or terror? No 'What the fuck are you?'," she sweatdropped. "Seriously, the staring is getting a bit much."

"T-t-tail…" Keiko fainted.

"I didn't expect that," Shikaga mumbled, being forced to re-evaluate her teammate.

Gai voiced a single, simple sentiment that all three who observed the release could agree on.

"Fuck."

* * *

**A/N: Right, something of a big update. Still just blagging with this, but it is what it is. As I've said before, feedback is appreciated.**


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